Kris Commons has utterly trashed Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s managerial ability and warned Ibrox fans of the consequences of the Dutchman’s disastrous reign.
It won’t be anything particularly new but for Daily Mail readers in Bearsden, Morningside and Bridgeton it will be a painful dose of reality. More painful that a place in the Champions League record books combined with a seven point gap behind Celtic.
The insane expectations of bears was only fuelled by the freakish events of the Lockdown Season, that was never going to be the new norm with the return to reality at Ibrox met by Celtic finding a proper manager that insisted that the pitch was more valuable than the Balance Sheet with assets on the park rather than gathering interest in bank accounts.
Ange Postecoglou has transformed Celtic for the best in less than 18 months, the club is unrecognisable for Peter Lawwell’s pathetic handover, meanwhile at Ibrox van Bronckhorst is dealing with the consequences of everything being gambled on winning one title, or more realistically stopping Selik getting 10, for now.
Picking up on Commons’ pierce in the Daily Mail, the Daily Record reports the former Celt saying:
Time’s up for Giovanni van Bronckhorst, He is finished at Rangers. Truth be told, he’s been finished for quite some time now. Probably from the moment he gave such a negative interview on the back of a 4-0 Champions League defeat in Amsterdam in early September.
Rangers had also been thrashed 4-0 against Celtic just a few days prior to that game against Ajax. That’s when things really started to unravel. The writing was on the wall.
Van Bronckhorst claimed Rangers couldn’t compete in the Champions League. It wasn’t a one-off or a throwaway comment. His public utterances became increasingly negative and defeatist.
There’s no fight or leadership in this team. Too many players are going through the motions. There’s no sense of identity or direction and that stems from the very top of the club.
I wrote in these pages last week that a 4-1 home win over Aberdeen only papered over the cracks. One result wasn’t going to solve all the problems. I said that if Rangers lost heavily to Ajax at Ibrox in their final Champions League game, the whole thing could come crashing back down like a pack of cards.
Well, not only did that happen, Rangers have compounded matters a few days later by losing against St Johnstone in Perth.
When a manager is fighting to save his job, there comes a point when the situation simply becomes irretrievable, the damage irreparable. That juncture has now arrived for Van Bronckhorst. He has nothing left to offer Rangers. The club are wasting their time if they allow him to continue.
Perhaps the only thing stopping Rangers from pulling the trigger is because they can’t afford to sack him and pay up his contract. But there’s no doubt he’s now a busted flush at Ibrox. In the space of six months, he’s gone from legend to lame duck.
And there is more to follow-follow.
Who will replace van Bronckhorst at Ibrox?
Wee Davie has the class and dignity for it
Robbie is the man, good European experience
Mister Gerrard- the Prodigal Returns
That must be the most epic mixed metaphor in history.
But soooooooo true.